Egyptian troops remained unpaid for fifteen to twenty months at a time.

Evidence

In one incident, troops sent to Cyprus to subdue a rebellion themselves revolted against Mehmed Ali and his government on the island; the Pasha wrote them an open order to be read aloud in front of them warning them of the consequences. He said, “I know that you still have not received a fifteen-month pay in arrears since you were in the Hijaz, and another fifteen-to-twenty-month pay since you were in the Sudan … You have to know, however, that you are not alone in this respect and that other troops in the Morea and in Crete also have their pay in arrears.” — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 935

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: did chronic pay arrears meaningfully degrade combat effectiveness in actual battles, or was loyalty maintained through other means?
• XREF: connects to: Desertion rates fluctuated between ten and twenty-five percent of Egyptian regiments — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1349; New-model Egyptian troops could not subsist on army pay and required state food rations — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 936
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Desertion rates fluctuated between ten and twenty-five percent of Egyptian regiments — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1349; New-model Egyptian troops could not subsist on army pay and required state food rations — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 936